5x11 Episode Tag: Bad Signs
by Colourful Glitter
Summary: Volker pays Lisbon a second visit, but this time he runs into Jane as well.


**Author's Note: So...I just kind of wrote this and thought I'd share. I don't think Jane ever _really_ met Volker. I envision their meeting to possibly go something like this...  
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**Disclaimer: Not under my ownership.  
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Something had been off the past few days with Lisbon. Jane had noticed. She had told him that she needed his help. She'd told him _directly_. She never did that. She was always too proud to ask directly. Give him an order to help them, that she'd do. But never would she tell him that it was _needed_. That was the first bad sign.

The second bad sign was her stress level. Yes. She was always stressed. Hell, she had to put up with _his_ antics on a daily basis. But now it was different. Sometimes she seemed distant and vacant. He didn't like that with her. She was always so focused. Not now.

He wasn't sure what to do. How was he going to help her? He had offered assistance, but now he wasn't sure what assistance he could give. Jane got up from his couch in the bullpen. It was evening and the team was starting to wind down, ready to go home and relax after work. He really couldn't blame them. Jane went and got himself another cup of tea and a small snack. He finished the snack before returning to the bullpen, waving goodbye to Cho and Rigsby as they both headed out. Back in the bullpen, Van Pelt was just shutting down her computer and slipping on her coat.

"Goodnight, Jane." Van Pelt says.

"Goodnight." Jane smiles and nods at her before she gathers her things and leaves the bullpen, making a brief stop at Lisbon's office to say goodnight and leaving for the elevator.

Jane sat alone for a little while in the bullpen. Lisbon's office blinds were about three quarters closed, doing their job of obscuring the scene on the other side of the window.

Yet another bad sign.

Sighing heavily, Jane rose from his spot on his couch and made his way over to her office. He didn't even knock before he opened the door and went inside, closing the door behind him. She didn't even move. Didn't look up at him. Didn't tell him to go away. Nothing. Lisbon just sat there, elbows on her desk and face pressed into both her hands. Jane debated for a moment whether he thought she might be asleep. However, the tension in her muscles told him that she wasn't. "Hey."

She still didn't move.

"You know, I can see you. Sitting still doesn't make you invisible to me."

"Congratulations." Lisbon said sarcastically, but not her usual teasing sarcasm. No. This was a flat sarcasm. The type used by people who really are not in a good mood. She removed her hands from her face and looked at her computer, not even sparing him a glance. "Your eyes work. You can see. Feel free to _see_ yourself out."

Jane frowned. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this level of cold. "I want to help you."

"You found something on Volker?" Now she looked at him.

"No." Jane shook his head.

"Oh." Lisbon just looked back at her computer screen.

"You should go home."

"Excuse me?" Lisbon raised a brow.

"Go home." Jane repeated. "Get some sleep. Relax. Take a bath. _Something_. Don't sit around here, brooding and obsessing."

"You're one to talk." Lisbon snapped. "That's _all_ you've done since you got here. And where do you get off giving _me_ orders?"

"I'm not giving you an order. I'm telling you. As a concerned friend."

"Concerned friend." Lisbon snickered.

"Yes. A concerned friend." Jane said stubbornly.

"Jane. I'm not in the mood. Please. Just go."

"No."

Lisbon looked at him irritably. "No?"

"Yes, no."

"So, you're just going to stand there and stare at me all night?"

"You plan on staying here _all night_?"

"Are you excited to finally have a buddy here with you that's not the security guard?"

"That's not the point." Jane shook his head. "This isn't healthy."

"And you'd know _all_ about healthy."

Jane took a deep breath. "I know you're in a bad mood, Teresa. But, please. Listen to me."

"Jane." Lisbon looked directly at him. "Thank you for your concern. I am in a bad mood. But, I don't want you to tell me how to live, when to go home and what may or may not be healthy for me." She lowered her voice so that Jane barely heard her. "I want your help getting Volker. I want your help putting him away. He's a dangerous man and he deser-" She was interrupted by a knock on her office door. "Come in." Lisbon called to whoever was on the other side of the door.

The door opened and Tommy Volker stepped inside her office.

Jane had never really met him, but somehow he knew who he was. The tension that made its way into Lisbon's jaw told him everything that he needed to know.

"Agent Lisbon." Volker addressed her formally with arrogance and superiority oozing out of his every pore. It was enough to make Jane want to gag, but valiantly he refused the urge.

"Mr. Volker." Lisbon replied stiffly. "Can I help you?"

"No. Not really. I just came to say that I'm sorry about my friend. But you wouldn't have found anything useful out from him." There was the barest hint of a smirk playing on his lips. "I'm worried for you. You seem to see things that aren't there. I'd be careful if I were you. People can lose their _jobs_ because of things like that."

Did he just threaten Lisbon's job? Has Volker been threatening her this _entire_ _time_!? And…_she didn't tell him_!? Jane opened his mouth to say something.

"Jane." Lisbon snapped quickly, cutting him off before he could get words out.

Volker finally turned to look at him and actually acknowledge his existence. _God_, the man made Jane sick. And they had only just met!

"Patrick Jane." He smiled tightly, introducing himself. "Nice to meet you."

"Yes." Volker looked Jane up and down, as if sizing him up. "It is."

Lisbon still had that hammer in her desk, right? If now wouldn't be an ideal time to use it, Jane didn't know what was.

Lisbon cleared her throat, still behind her desk. "If that's all, Mr. Volker, goodnight."

Volker looked back at her, smirking his arrogant smirk and making Jane want to punch him more and more by the second. "Yes, Teresa. Goodnight." With that, he opened the door and briskly walked out of Lisbon's office, leaving behind a newfound sense of disgust within Jane.

He just-but-no. He called her Teresa!? No. No one around here got to call her Teresa, except him. That's just how it was, with a few other exceptions. But, none of those exceptions allowed the likes of Tommy Volker to call her Teresa. Jane and Lisbon waited in silence as they listened to Volker's footsteps fade while he made his way to the elevator. "He's been _threatening_ you!?" Was the first thing Jane said.

"That's not the point."

"Doesn't matter. It's _important_."

"I've been threatened before." Lisbon shrugged, trying to appear unshaken by Volker's visit and not succeeding.

"Lisbon." Jane made his way over to her desk, placing his palms on it and leaning forward. "Why didn't you tell me that _before_?"

"His threats are my problem. I'll deal with it. It's no matter of yours."

"It is my matter."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's not."

"It is. He's planning something, I can tell. It's going to be bad. Bad for you. Be careful. Please. I'm going to help, however I can. He's getting to you. Go home and rest."

Lisbon opened her mouth to object.

"If you don't go home on your own right now, I'm going to prance around your office all night, being loud and annoying until you decide to go home."

"That sounds like what you do all day." A small grin tugged at her lips.

"Haha." Jane stood up and folded his arms. "Come on."

"Fine." Lisbon rolled her eyes, standing up and grabbing her coat.

"And we're off."

"We?" Lisbon looked at him.

"I'm not stupid. You were just planning to circle back, hoping that I'd be in the attic thinking that you'd gone home."

"No!"

"You are a terrible liar, Teresa." Jane held the door for her.

"Shut up." She locked up her office and they made their way to the elevator.

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**Author's Note: And that was my idea about how I think Volker and Jane might meet. Hope you enjoyed it. PLease leave a review.  
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